Care in the New Testament
A Pastoral Study of Love That Cares for Others
Prayer and the Limits of the Caregiver
The Fellowship of Those Who Need Grace
Being Present with Those in Pain
Care That Meets Material Needs
Care with Truth and Gentleness
Before You Begin
What does it mean to care for another person in the name of Christ? Most of us want to help when someone is hurting, but we are not always sure how. We worry about saying the wrong thing. We feel the weight of needs we cannot fix. Some of us have cared for others for so long that we are weary. Others find it hard to accept care when we are the ones in need.
The New Testament gives a rich and practical answer. Christian care is love taking responsible action for another person’s good, in dependence on the God whose compassion is revealed in Jesus Christ. Sometimes that action is a meal or a ride. Sometimes it is a gentle word of truth. Sometimes it is patient silence beside someone who grieves. And sometimes it is the humility to let others care for us.
This study walks through ten facets of care, beginning with the God who cares for us and ending with the hope that keeps us going. It is written for every member of the church: for those who serve on care teams, for family caregivers, for anyone who wants to be a better friend to people in need, and for anyone who needs to receive care right now.
Each section opens the Scriptures, considers what they mean for daily life, and closes with questions for reflection, a short prayer, and one small step to practice in the coming week. Read with your own relationships in mind. God may bring a particular person to your heart as you go.
The God Who Cares for Us
What Scripture Says
Our care for others begins with receiving and trusting God’s care for us. Jesus spoke directly to everyday worries about food, clothing, and tomorrow:
Matthew 6:31–33 (NKJV): Therefore do not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?” For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
Peter adds a tender invitation:
1 Peter 5:6–7 (NKJV): Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
The word for “worry” in Matthew 6 can also describe proper concern for others (1 Corinthians 12:25; Philippians 2:20).[1] Jesus does not forbid caring about people. He forbids the anxious worry that forgets the Father’s care.
What It Means for Your Life
You cannot give what you have not received. Before you care for anyone else, you are invited to bring your own burdens to God. “He cares for you.”
That is good news for caregivers. Another person’s need does not make you responsible for knowing everything or controlling every outcome. You can bring your helplessness to God in honest prayer.
It also shapes how we speak to people who are worried. Jesus did not simply tell people to calm down; He gave them reasons to trust. A caring response listens to the fear, names the real need, and helps with the next step. Prayer and practical help belong together.
Reflect, Pray, Practice
Reflect. What cares are you carrying that you have not yet brought to God? Do you find it easier to give care or to receive it?
Pray. Father, You know what I need before I ask. I cast my cares on You, because You care for me. Free me from anxious worry, and let Your care for me overflow in care for others. Amen.
Practice. Write down your three heaviest cares this week, and pray over them each morning, giving them one by one to God.
The Compassion of Jesus
What Scripture Says
Matthew 9:36 (NKJV): But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.
The phrase “moved with compassion” translates a word connected with a deep inward stirring.[2] In the Gospels it always leads somewhere: to teaching (Mark 6:34), to feeding the hungry (Matthew 15:32), to healing the sick (Matthew 14:14), and to restoring a grieving widow’s son (Luke 7:13–15). Jesus’ compassion attended to both spiritual and bodily needs, and it moved Him to act.
What It Means for Your Life
Compassion begins with seeing. Jesus saw people, really saw them: their weariness, their confusion, their hunger, their grief. Many of us move through our days without noticing the people around us. Ask God to open your eyes.
Compassion then moves toward action. We do not need to choose between meeting spiritual needs and practical ones. Jesus did both. A caring church teaches the Word and also brings meals; it prays for the sick and also drives them to appointments.
And compassion accepts its limits. We are not the Savior, and we cannot work His miracles. We imitate His mercy while depending on Him as Lord. Sometimes the most faithful thing we can do is stay present when a problem cannot be solved.
Reflect, Pray, Practice
Reflect. Whom have you passed by without really seeing? Do you tend to lean toward spiritual help or practical help, and what would it look like to offer both?
Pray. Lord Jesus, You saw the crowds and were moved with compassion. Open my eyes to see people as You see them, and move my heart and hands to help. Amen.
Practice. Each day this week, ask God to show you one person who needs compassion, and respond in one concrete way.
Becoming a Neighbor
What Scripture Says
When a lawyer asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?”, Jesus told the story of a man beaten and left half dead. A priest and a Levite saw him and passed by. Then:
Luke 10:33–34 (NKJV): But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
Jesus then asked which of the three “was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves” (10:36), and said, “Go and do likewise” (10:37). John gives the same lesson in plain words: “let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth” (1 John 3:18).
What It Means for Your Life
The lawyer wanted to know the limits of his duty. Jesus turned the question around: not “Who qualifies as my neighbor?” but “Will I become a neighbor to the person in front of me?”
Notice the Samaritan’s steps: he saw, he drew near, he helped immediately, he provided ongoing care, and he enlisted someone else (the innkeeper) to share the responsibility. Care is more than feeling moved. It takes concrete, practical action, and it is wise to share the load.
A helpful way to begin is to ask a specific question: “Would a meal help this week? A ride? Help making an appointment?” Then follow through. Good will becomes dependable when someone knows what help is coming and when.
Reflect, Pray, Practice
Reflect. Whom do you keep at a distance? Is there someone “half dead” by the side of your road, worn down by illness, grief, or trouble?
Pray. Lord, I do not want to pass by on the other side. Give me a Samaritan’s heart: eyes that see, feet that draw near, and hands that help. Show me whom to become a neighbor to this week. Amen.
Practice. Offer one specific, practical kind of help to someone in need this week, and follow through exactly as you promised.
Giving That Grows from Love
What Scripture Says
Paul warns that even great generosity can be empty without love: “though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor… but have not love, it profits me nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:3). And Luke places a familiar scene right after the Good Samaritan:
Luke 10:41–42 (NKJV): And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”
Martha welcomed Jesus and served Him, while Mary sat at His feet and listened. Martha became “distracted with much serving” (10:40). Jesus did not condemn her hospitality, but He gently called her back to what mattered most.
What It Means for Your Life
Our motives matter. We may help others while also seeking admiration, influence, or relief from guilt. That does not mean we should stop helping until our motives are perfect. It means we bring our mixed motives to God, repent of what is self-serving, and ask Him to make love the reason for our service.
The Martha and Mary story reminds us that service must flow from time with Jesus. When our caring becomes frantic, resentful, or self-important, it is time to sit at His feet again.
And remember the order John gives: “We love Him because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). You do not need to prove your worth by being needed. You are already loved. That frees you to serve gladly, to rejoice when someone needs less help, and to let others take the visible role.
Reflect, Pray, Practice
Reflect. Are you more like Martha or Mary right now? Is there any part of your service that has become driven by the need to be needed?
Pray. Lord Jesus, I want my service to grow from love, not from worry or pride. Draw me back to Your feet. Let me receive Your love first, and then give freely. Amen.
Practice. Before you serve this week, spend ten quiet minutes with Jesus in His Word, and ask Him to make love the reason for what you do.
Prayer and the Limits of the Caregiver
What Scripture Says
Luke 5:16 (NKJV): So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.
Crowds were gathering and needs were pressing, yet Jesus regularly withdrew to pray. After a long day of healing, He rose early and went to a solitary place (Mark 1:35). When the apostles returned exhausted from ministry, He said, “Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while” (Mark 6:31).
The prophet Elijah, worn out and discouraged, received food and sleep before he received God’s word (1 Kings 19:5–8). God cared for His servant as a whole person.
What It Means for Your Life
Caregivers often feel guilty for resting. Jesus’ example says otherwise. Prayer and rest are not interruptions of care; they sustain it. Fruitfulness comes from abiding in Christ (John 15:5), not from doing everything ourselves.
Prayer also helps us sort out what God has called us to do from what we have assumed we must control. We can bring the needs before Him and ask, “Lord, what is mine to carry? Who else should share this?”
And no single caregiver is the whole body. If care depends entirely on one person, the community should share the load. Sometimes rest requires not just a better attitude but practical help: someone else taking a turn.
Reflect, Pray, Practice
Reflect. Where are you weary from caring? What would it look like to withdraw to pray? Is there a responsibility you need to share?
Pray. Lord Jesus, You withdrew to pray and invited Your disciples to rest. Teach me to rest in You. Show me what is mine to carry and who can help carry the rest. Renew my strength for the work You have given. Amen.
Practice. Set aside a regular time this week to withdraw and pray, and ask one person to share a caregiving task with you.
The Fellowship of Those Who Need Grace
What Scripture Says
2 Corinthians 1:3–4 (NKJV): Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
Paul was willing to be known as someone in need. He told the Corinthians about pressures “beyond measure, above strength” and thanked them for helping him through their prayers (1:8–11). And when he begged God to remove his “thorn in the flesh,” the Lord answered, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness” (12:9).
What It Means for Your Life
The church is not divided into helpers and the helped. Every member is both. The capable leader needs prayer and encouragement. The member with ongoing limitations still belongs and still contributes. “The members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary” (1 Corinthians 12:22).
The comfort you have received from God in your own suffering can become comfort for others. But be careful not to assume your experience is identical to theirs. A wise word might be: “Some of what you describe is familiar to me; I would like to understand what this has been like for you.”
And if you are in a season of weakness, take heart. Christ’s grace is sufficient. Your weakness can become a place where His strength is seen.
Reflect, Pray, Practice
Reflect. How has God comforted you in past troubles? Whom could you comfort with that same comfort? Is there a need of your own you have been hiding?
Pray. Father of mercies and God of all comfort, thank You for comforting me in my troubles. Use me to comfort others. And give me the humility to receive help when I need it. Your grace is sufficient for me. Amen.
Practice. Share one honest prayer request with a trusted believer this week, and offer to pray for that person in return.
Being Present with Those in Pain
What Scripture Says
When Jesus came to Bethany after Lazarus died, He met Martha and Mary in their grief:
John 11:33–35 (NKJV): Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. And He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept.
Jesus knew He would raise Lazarus, yet He wept. Paul gives the same call to all believers:
Romans 12:15 (NKJV): Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.
And he reminds grieving believers that they do not “sorrow as others who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13).
What It Means for Your Life
Being present with someone in pain is one of the most important forms of care, and one of the hardest. We want to fix, explain, or hurry the person along. Jesus’ tears tell us that grief is not a failure of faith. Hope does not cancel sorrow; it accompanies it.
Simple words are often best: “I am so sorry.” “Would you like to talk, or would quiet company help?” Avoid explanations of why a tragedy happened when Scripture has not told us. And keep showing up. Grief does not end after the funeral. A card, a call, or a visit months later can mean more than anything said in the first week.
When the time is right, Christian hope has something real to offer: the promise of resurrection and reunion in Christ. Offer it gently, perhaps by asking if the person would welcome prayer or a passage of Scripture.
Reflect, Pray, Practice
Reflect. Who in your life is grieving right now, perhaps a loss that others have already forgotten? What helped you most when you were grieving?
Pray. Lord Jesus, You wept at the grave of Your friend. Teach me to weep with those who weep, to stay present when I cannot fix, and to offer Your hope with gentleness. Amen.
Practice. Contact someone who has lost a loved one in the past year, simply to say you are thinking of him or her and remember the person who died.
Care That Meets Material Needs
What Scripture Says
In the early church, a complaint arose that some widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. The apostles listened and appointed trustworthy people to make sure everyone was cared for (Acts 6:1–7). James presses the point:
James 2:15–16 (NKJV): If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit?
And Peter adds a word about attitude: “Be hospitable to one another without grumbling” (1 Peter 4:9).
What It Means for Your Life
Care for bodily needs is part of the church’s work, not a lesser ministry. Groceries, transportation, help with a repair, or a shared meal can be holy acts of love.
Acts 6 also teaches that good intentions need organization. When care depends on one person remembering everything, people get missed. A congregation can ask: Who might be overlooked here because of language, transportation, or simply because no one noticed? Who follows up?
And dignity matters. We give without making the recipient feel inferior, without demanding gratitude, and without assuming we know what is needed. Asking “What would help?” respects the person’s own knowledge of his or her situation.
Reflect, Pray, Practice
Reflect. Who in your church might be quietly in material need? Are there people your congregation tends to overlook?
Pray. Lord, You care for the whole person, body and soul. Make me generous and wise in meeting practical needs, and help our church notice those who are overlooked. Let me give with dignity and without grumbling. Amen.
Practice. Meet one practical need this week, a meal, a ride, groceries, or a repair, for someone who could use help.
Care with Truth and Gentleness
What Scripture Says
Different people need different kinds of care:
1 Thessalonians 5:14 (NKJV): Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all.
And sometimes care includes correction:
Galatians 6:1–2 (NKJV): Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
What It Means for Your Life
Care requires discernment. A discouraged person needs comfort, not a lecture. A person refusing responsibility may need loving honesty, not only reassurance. Before deciding what someone needs, listen. Ask what has happened, what has already been tried, and what the person understands his or her need to be.
When correction is needed, the goal is always restoration, not superiority. Paul says to restore “in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.” None of us is beyond the need for grace.
Sometimes care includes clear agreements: what help is available, what the person will do, and when you will check in together. Clarity can protect relationships from resentment. And through it all, Paul’s word applies: “be patient with all.”
Reflect, Pray, Practice
Reflect. Do you tend to comfort when someone needs honesty, or correct when someone needs comfort? Is there someone you need to restore gently?
Pray. Lord, give me wisdom to know what each person needs: comfort, encouragement, help, or a gentle word of truth. Keep me humble, patient, and always aiming at restoration. Amen.
Practice. Before offering advice to anyone this week, ask at least two questions and listen carefully to the answers.
Continuing in Care with Hope
What Scripture Says
Care can be long and tiring, and the results are often slow or unseen. Paul encourages us:
Galatians 6:9 (NKJV): And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.
And Scripture holds before us the future God promises, when “God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying” (Revelation 21:4). The word Paul uses for patient endurance describes steady perseverance grounded in hope (Romans 8:25).[3]
What It Means for Your Life
Much care happens long after the crisis has passed: the widow six months after the funeral, the person still recovering from surgery, the family caring for a parent with dementia year after year. Faithful care remembers people beyond the immediate emergency.
Weariness is real. If you are tired, remember that God sees every act of love done in His name, and “in due season we shall reap.” Rest, share the load, and keep going.
And hold on to hope. The suffering we see now is not the end of the story. One day God will wipe away every tear. Our care now is a small sign of that coming day, and it is never wasted.
Reflect, Pray, Practice
Reflect. Whom have you stopped checking on after the first wave of help passed? Where are you weary in doing good?
Pray. Faithful God, when I grow weary in caring, renew my strength. Help me to remember people long after the crisis has passed, and fill me with hope in the day when You will wipe away every tear. Amen.
Practice. Put a reminder on your calendar to check in again, in one month and in three months, on someone you have recently helped.
Bringing It Together
Christian care is love taking responsible action for another’s good, in dependence on God:
- Receive God’s care first. Cast your cares on Him, for He cares for you.
- See with Jesus’ compassion, and let it move you to act.
- Become a neighbor to the person by your road.
- Let love be the root of your giving, and sit at Jesus’ feet.
- Pray and rest, and share the load with others.
- Belong to a fellowship of grace, where everyone both gives and receives.
- Stay present with those in pain, weeping with those who weep.
- Meet practical needs fairly and with dignity.
- Speak truth with gentleness, always aiming at restoration.
- Keep caring with hope, for in due season we shall reap.
May the Father of mercies and God of all comfort fill you with His care, and make you a channel of that care to everyone He places in your path.
A Note on Sources
Scripture is quoted from the New King James Version and should be checked against a printed NKJV before the study is taught or posted. Word meanings are drawn from the full study, Care in the New Testament, where the Greek terms and sources are given in detail. Definitions should be confirmed in BDAG before they are taught.
Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[1] The verb μεριμνάω, which can describe anxious worry or proper concern for another’s welfare; see the word study in the full study Care in the New Testament. Confirm in BDAG before teaching.
[2] The verb σπλαγχνίζομαι, “to be moved with compassion”; see the word study in the full study Care in the New Testament. Confirm in BDAG before teaching.
[3] The noun ὑπομονή, “endurance, steadfast perseverance”; see the word study in the full study Care in the New Testament. Confirm in BDAG before teaching.